Piano-forte section



UNITED STATES GEORGE PRATT, OF WEST ROXBURY,

ASSIGNOR TO OHIOKERING & SONS,

OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

PIANO-FORTE SECTION.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 5,675, dated December'27, 1504.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, GEORGE IuA'r'r, of' IVestRoxbury, in the count-y ot'Nortolk and State of h'lassachusetts, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Piano-Forte Acions; and I dohereby declare that the t'ol- Irwing is a t'ull, clear, and exactdescription thereof', which will ena-ble others skilled in the arttomake and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing,t'orniing a part ot' this specification. and representi ing a side viewot' an action with my improvement.

This invention consists in an improved construction ofthe jack 7 of apiano-forte action l whereby I combine the peculiar advantages of whatare known as the French and the l Pleyel7 actions.

It also consists in constructing what are known as the rest-rail and theregulating rail7 of separate parts and arranging them at some distanceapart, whereby greater convenience is afforded for regulating the jackswithout the detachment of the keys from the ac tion, as is necessarywhen the two are attached and arranged behind the jacks.

A is the hammer, arranged as in the French B is the key. O is the jack,constructed with a projection, a, on its and Pleyel actions.

back like that ot' the French action, and with a projection, b, in frontlike that ot the Pleyel action, or, in other works, it may be said toresemble the jack ofthe French. action, with the addition ot' theprojection b in iront, or to be like that of the Pleyel action, with theaddition of the projection a on the back. thejack-spring, made ot apiece of wire, and

having one end inserted tightly into the key, 4

and the other end entering a hole in the projection b, like the springot' the Pleyel action.

The acting portion ot' this spring may be ot' straight or semi-ellipticor other curved forni. Such a spring is much more eifcctive and durablethanthat commonly applied to the French action, thejack thus constructedacting inil inediately upon and behind the butt of the tiange e.

I) is the regulating-screw by which the letting oft'is produced andregulated, arrangtd like that ot the French action,to act upontheprojection a. This makes am uch better mode of letting oli" than thatcommonly used in the 3 Pleyel action.

; 1*] is the regnlatingrail, which conta-ins the regulating screw; and Fis the restrail upon which the hammers fall and rest. These are madeseparate. Theregulating-rail is arrangt d in the position it commonlyoccupies in the French action; but the rest-rail is placed farther backnearer to the heads of thehammers, by which means a sutticicnt space islet't between the two rails for the adjustment ot' the jack, as itenables both the screws c e, which secure the jack bottom G to the keyto be reached withoutremoning the key, thus securing by this combinationall the peculiar adl vantages ot the Pleyel77 and oftheFrench7 actions,as they are usually so called.

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. A-jack with a projection on the back for the regulating-screw to act on,and another projection on the front which is acted on by a straight,curved, or elliptic wire spring, one cud ot which is inserted in aslotin said projection, the other end ot the spring being inserted into andmoving with the key, thejack thus operated upon by the spring and by theregulatingscrew, and thus constructed acting immediately upon and behindthe butt ot' the iiange, substantially as and for the purose h freinspaaitietl.

2. Making the rest-rail and regulating-rail separate and with a spacebetween them, g when both these rails are behind the jacks,substantially as and for the purpose herein specitied.

Witnesses CALVIN ALLEN, Gao. H. l-roHARnsoN.

G FORGE PRATT.

